Celebrating Partnerships for Better Health

We ended our visit to HOPE’s program sites in China with a Partners Reception in Beijing attended by Ministry of Health officials, corporate partner representatives and members of the Chinese media, all very important to making HOPE’s health education programs in China a success.

Our newly elected Chairman of the Board, Merck Chairman, Richard T. Clark, spoke at the event, recounting his experience of witnessing the thriving Project HOPE health education programs we visited over the past week.

We met children at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, now healthier because of care and specialized treatment available at the renowned hospital. We met physicians and nurses working at community hospitals and rural health centers, now better educated because of HOPE’s Rural Training Program. We met victims of the massive 2008 Sichuan earthquake, mobile again, thanks to HOPE’s Rehabilitative Training Program. And we met patients, throughout Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing, now more knowledgeable about the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, thanks to HOPE’s chronic disease programs which place a high priority on patient education.

HOPE has worked in China for 28 years, providing health education and humanitarian assistance to help improve the health of children, women and men. Mr. Clark pointed out that the success of this long-term relationship would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of HOPE’s partners, including the Chinese government, U.S. corporations and the Chinese media, which helps spread health news to the community.

“We’ve accomplished a lot,” he said. “But there is more to do. I hope this is the beginning of another 28 years of working together to better health.”